Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-pftt2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-05T05:08:41.648Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The temperance movement – 100 words

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Type
Columns
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2014 

Imagine in today’s culture of intoxication a people’s movement arising to counter alcohol. The 19th century saw such a campaign. It had immense influence by the early 20th century. The temperance movement: an alliance of religious and political groups campaigning for personal and legislative change. The goal of moderation and the shunning of ‘ardent spirits’ soon evolved into advocacy of teetotalism - a term derived from a stammering ex-inebriate’s advocacy of t-t-total abstinence. Individuals could ‘Take the Pledge’. While Britain by the 1920s did not have prohibition, local areas could veto the sale of alcohol. The movement waned rapidly after WW2.

Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.